Impact of OMNIPOD® on the quality of life of adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Introduction: Several pediatric studies have demonstrated that therapy using a conventional insulin pump improves glycemic control and quality of life. At the beginning of this study, a new tubeless insulin pump, Omnipod®, had recently been marketed in France.

Objectives: Analyze the response of adolescents treated with multiple injections to the proposal to use this new medical device and compare both the quality of life and the glycemic control of adolescents according to their choice.

Material And Methods: This was a prospective, observational study of adolescents aged 10-17 years who had type 1 diabetes for more than 1 year, all treated with multi-injection insulin delivery according to a basal-bolus regimen. They were separated into three groups: group A choosing to use the Omnipod® system, group B taking the time to think before making a decision, and group C choosing to keep their multi-injection therapy. The three groups were compared according to their quality of life with validated tools and glycemic control.

Results: Groups were formed with 30 (25%) patients in group A, 55 patients (45%) in group B, and 36 patients (30%) in group C. As to the WHO Well-Being Index, no significant difference appeared in the study for the patients in the three groups. An increased treatment satisfaction score was found, evolving from 3.79 ± 0.68 to 4.36 ± 0.56, p = 0.002 (group A) and from 3.87 ± 0.7 to 4.16 ± 0.7, p = 0.032 (group B), with no significant change for group C (from 4.39 ± 0.6 to 4.31 ± 0.62, p = 0.582). The wish to change treatment score improved for group A (from 4.14 ± 0.88 to 1.68 ± 0.9; p < 0.001) and group B (from 3.51 ± 1.05 to 1.84 ± 1; p < 0.001), with no significant change for group C (from 1.81 ± 0 0.98 to 1.61 ± 0.8; p = 0.432). There was no significant difference regarding HbA1c rates in the three groups.

Conclusion: There was no significant difference in quality-of-life scores between adolescents who chose to switch from multiple injection to the tubeless patch pump and those who retained multi-injection treatment, but increased satisfaction was observed in the former group.